Saving our station - Temora Railway

The Temora railway station was just another dilapidated building destined to be demolished until a timely coincidence changed its fate.

Established in 1893, the Temora Railway Station was renovated in 2016 to include a museum with a growing display of fascinating railway memorabilia. Temora Council Director of Environmental Services Kris Dunstan says the station had suffered ‘years of neglect’ until a need for public toilets bought it to council’s attention. “There’s a park beside the railway station that had no public toilets, so originally we just wanted to use the railway station toilets,” Kris says. “Once we started to look around we could see there was a need and a desire to do more. It’s evolved from there.” The station also houses a youth centre, where young people can make use of hospitality facilities, musical instruments and technology. Membership of the youth centre has grown from a handful to over 100. In 2016 the St Anne’s Central School Community Council organised a Long Table Lunch, which saw 180 people seated on white tables along the railway platform. The popularity of the event has secured it's position on the annual calendar. “We wanted a function that would give the community an idea of what the venue could be used for,” Kris says. “While we were here a train pulled in and we got a bit of wheat dust all over us! It was a big success.” Max Oliver is on the heritage committee that has been instrumental in preserving the building and maintaining the museum display, which includes everything from railway uniforms and tools to old newspapers and signs. “We feel really proud of what we’ve done,” Max says. “We had more heritage trains through in the 12 months since it was restored than we had in the previous 12 years. It’s great.”

The Railway Temora Museum is open every Friday from 9am to 12pm and on the first & third Saturdays of the month, 9am to 12pm

Max Oliver